[Index]

WEREFOX4 (12)

Cypher Bestiary

Covered in ragged patches of twining fur, transformed werefoxes are human-sized, voracious nightmares that hunt hillsides and forests. They can take hybrid or fully fox-like forms.

Health: 18

Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound

Movement: Short; long in fox form

Modifications: Attacks and dodge as level 5 while transformed; perception and stealth as level 6

Combat: A transformed werefox bites. A transformed werefox also has one or more of the following traits.

• Disembowel: The target damaged by the transformed werefox's bite must succeed on a Might defense roll, or the bite exposes a section of the target's belly, and they take a major wound (ignores armor).
  
• Noxious Fumes: Characters within immediate range of a transformed werefox in their fox form must succeed on a Might defense roll each round they remain within immediate range of a werefox or else sustain 1 Speed damage (ignores armor). A successful defense roll renders a character immune to the effect until they use a 10-hour recovery.
  
• Camouflage: The werefox blends into their surroundings and can attempt to hide even if in full view of other creatures.

GM Intrusion: After an encounter with a werefox in their fox form, the smell lingers on a character's clothing and hair, hindering any social tasks until they're able to bathe.

THE ESSENCE OF WEREBEASTS

Most of the time a werebeast is a human, with human thoughts, goals, emotions, and abilities. The brutal transformation can be brought on by moon phases, changes in season, or intense feelings such as anger and fear; in the span of under a minute, the werebeast's bones break and rearrange into new shapes, leaving an animal that acts only on instinct. They remain aware of their actions and may feel horrified remorse once they resume their human form, but their higher cognition is forced into the backseat. In fact, the most disturbing thing about werebeasts is that they reveal what a human is capable of under the right (or wrong) conditions.

Werebeasts tend to live in isolation, or accompanied by werebeasts with the same beast form. This reduces the risk that they'll harm a loved one in their beast form; it also means that characters who stumble upon their hideout may be set upon by a bevy of enraged werebeasts.

In human form, werebeasts are usually level 2 humans.

WEREBEAST NAMES

Werebeasts usually have human names appropriate to the setting and time period, such as: Embry, Lucian, Rusty, Frankie, Beau, Dash, Teddy, Libby, Max, Hunter, Luna, Ari, Barry, Dot, Kira, Finley, Rex, Juniper, Boris, Lowell, Tala, Morgan

A "transformed" werebeast is one that appears either as a huge creature, or a huge human/creature hybrid.

Adventure Seed: Beasts are preying on families in a small town. When hunters follow their trail into the woods, the beast tracks turn to human footprints.

WEREBEAST ORIGINS

How did the werebeast develop the ability to shapeshift?

d6	Origin
1	Heritable trait (that may have skipped generations)
2	Bitten by the same kind of werebeast
3	Cursed
4	Summoning ritual gone wrong
5	Inherited trinket that keeps reappearing
6	Intentionally, by seeking arcane knowledge

TRANSFORMATION CAUSES

What causes a particular werebeast to transform, if not the full moon?

d6	Trigger
1	Rare tide
2	Unexpected pain, such as a stubbed toe, or damage
3	Taking an amount of damage that would normally kill them
4	Intoxication
5	The sound of an approaching storm
6	Entering a holy place